Home PodcastJulie Alli ‘Private sector ready to fix energy crisis’- AfriForum

‘Private sector ready to fix energy crisis’- AfriForum

by Zahid Jadwat

Local lobby group AfriForum said the private sector was ready to help fix South Africa’s energy crisis if given a chance. The organisation also has a three-stage plan in its own attempt to overcome loadshedding.

Speaking in an interview on Salaamedia, AfriForum Head of Community Sustainability, Johan Kruger, said the group was working to gather expertise, capital and opportunities in the private sector to address loadshedding.

“We’ve been working with a number of teams to say ‘how can we play a facilitation role to bring together knowledge, know-how, capital and the opportunities that exist in the private sector,” he said.

Kruger said the private sector was “standing ready”, but had to wait for opportunities to start talks. He touted private sector intervention as an “immediate solution” that was both “feasible” and “already working”.

 

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AfriForum three-stage plan

AfriForum, Kruger said, had a three-stage plan to contribute to fixing the energy crisis. It involved gathering expertise, financing, developing community-level blueprints and finally pebble-bed reactors from the United States.

He explained the first stage was about facilitating expertise and finding suppliers, as well as probing sources of finance to get off Eskom’s grid.

This would be followed by a second stage, during which AfriForum would assist communities to develop blueprints to find successful working options. Kruger cited the Mafube Local Municipality in the Free State, which recently stepped towards independence from Eskom.

“In the second phase, we will be looking at working with our partners that have successfully taken Mafube municipal council off the grid. They’ve basically taken over the whole energy value chain and the model is working; they are getting the money and providing sustainable power.”

“That model must be replicated as soon as possible,” he said.

In the third, ambitious stage AfriForum hoped to import pebble-bed reactors from the USA. Each approximately the size of a truck, he said, could supply power for several years but could only arrive within four to five years. They’re also costly.

“It will be expensive for the investors, but the aim is to have competitive prices relative to Eskom and as cheap as possible,” said Kruger, adding, “It’s not a pie in the sky – it’s being done as we speak and the exciting thing is that it can come to South Africa.”

 

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Alternative energy supply


Some cities, such as Johannesburg and Cape Town, have shown keen interest in procuring electricity from alternative producers besides Eskom.

While 90% of Johannesburg’s electricity comes from the parastatal, the City is seeking energy companies for a short-term purchasing agreement of up to 36 months.

Kruger said the Western Cape province also had “a lot more appetite for private roleplayers to contribute to the grid, but we see that many municipalities basically don’t have the political will to start implementing these solutions”.

Julie Allie and Johan Kruger also discussed the regulatory hurdles that remain in the way. Listen to the full discussion below.

 

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